Metalworking apparatus and method



March 23, 1943. J. KAFOWI METAL woaxme APPARATUS AND mmaon DUB, \U

Filed. Jan. 1'7, 1941 1 max. 3 5 3m 3o: 4

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Patented Mar. 23, 1943 1 H HZQ MB? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METALWORKING METHO APPARATUS 'A'ND Jan Kafowi, Far Rockaway, N. .Y. I

Application January 17, 1941, Serial No. 374,922

8 Claims.

produced metal rods by sawing the required.

length and weight ingots from the rod, the ingots being then placed in the dies and forged or pressed into the required configuration. It is.

quite expensive to produce metal parts or elements from stock rods since the rods must in most cases be sawed into the proper size which requires accurate work and produces considerable waste metal. This is avoided according to the present invention in that the method and apparatus utilize metallic ferrous or non-ferrous material in the form of pigs or bricks which is cast into a larger ingot and subsequently subdivided by hot pressing into smaller ingots each of the proper shape and weight for the subsequent warm forging or pressing step into the required and desired configuration.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to subdivide by pressing, particularly in the heat, in a mold a larger ingot into a desired number of smaller ingots of required individual size and.

shape.

It is another object of the invention to sub divide a larger metallic ingot by pressing, particularly in the heat, in a mold into a desired.

numberof smaller ingots of required individual size and shape, and to impart to these smaller ingots a desired density. I

It is still a further object of the invention to subdivide a larger metallic ingot by pressing,

preferably in the heat, into a number of smaller ingots and to use as the larger ingot a casting which is substantially homogeneous and free of fissures, folds and holes so that the smaller individual ingots obtained by pressing them in the mold are of similar homogeneity as well as of the shape and size required.

It is, however, an object of this invention to cast the ingots of therequired size and weight and which are free of any fissures, depressions H or other faults which are known to occur in cast ing ingots as carried out heretofore. A further object of the invention resides in casting ingots which are homogeneous and integral throughout without faults of such metals as copper,

nickel, lead, zinc, aluminum, magnesium and their alloys, especially brass and bronze.

It is therefore an important feature of this: invention to cast ingots, for the warm pressing or drop forging of various configurations which are free of bubbles, folds, cone shaped fissuresQ central channels, etc., in the form in which the diameter or lateral distance is approximately twice the thickness or vertical distance.

Thus an object of this invention also resides" in providing an ingot 'and a mold 'for casting brass, bronze, and other metal alloys and metals in which the lateral dimension of the mold and the ingot cast therein is'approximately doub1e* the thickness or vertical dimension,

, A still further object of the invention resides;

in a special apparatus'for carrying out the shaping of the ingots both as to casting and pressing them out thereafter into smaller ingots of the required size and weight.

7 Further bjects will be apparent from 'the fol-J lowing description when considered in connec-j tion with the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the process Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a moldand ingot,

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of a press for'forming a plurality of ingots,

Fig. 5 is aplanview of a forming die for a] plurality of ingots, v i Fig. 6 is a side view partly in section of the:

press ona smaller scale, and

Fig. 7 is a side elevation or a modified details In accordance with the process, metal pigs,:

metal stock, orscrap metal I, Fig. 1, such as of copper, nickel, zinc, aluminum, magnesium and theiralloys particularly brass and bronze, is

melted in a furnace 2 and may be poured or cast in 'a mold 3 into the ingot it having the required amount of metal, that is the desired configuration and weight to be processed afterwards. particular, the molten metal in 2 may be cast into a large ingot I in a mold 8 and ingot I then pressed by extrusion into a plurality of small ingots 9 in the extrusion press ll]. Each ingot 9 has the desired weight andsize to be pressed preferably individually, into the finished or semifinished articles H in a shaping press 12. As an alternative the molten metal may be cast in a mold I3 into a. large billet l4 and the latter is sheared or sawed into a number of ingots I5. Each ingot I5 is then placed in an extrusion press I6 and extruded into a plurality of small ingots I! each of which is of the required size and weight to be drop forged or otherwise finished in the shaping press [8 to the finished or semi-finished articles l9. It is of course obvious that a metal working plant may comprise all the units and follow all the steps diagrammatically illustrated in Fig.. 1.

As illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings it is of course well known that in casting ingots of various metals such as brass there results a de-* pressed portion or fissure which projects into the body of the casting for a considerable depth,.

depending upon the thickness or depth of the ingot 2!. It has therefore been determined; and this constitutes an important: feature of the invention, that in order to avoid any holes,

ing place in the center of the casting. It is.

therefore advantageous-that the'mold. 3, 8,v for instance shown in Fig. 3 which may be made of any suitable material such as iron, must have a vertical dimension (1. of the. mold cavity. 22 which is approximately one-half of. the width, diameter or lateral dimension '5. It is. not necessary that the relationship ofv the width to the depth is exactly two .to one but it may vary slightly; however, the greater the variation, the more pronounced will be the. sl-ightcentral depression which may be formed in the casting. If the relationship of the width of the mold cavity to the depth. is. close. totwo to one, then only a very slight or practically no depression will form in the upper surface of the central part of the casting. However, such. slight depression. if formed will not be detrimental to the subsequent pressing or extrusionv step of the cast ingot into the plurality of ingots or the finished article. I

A further. feature of the. present invention resides in casting a rather large ingotsuch as. the one indicated in Fig. 4 in which the ingot is first cast as a rather large block of metal ma.- terial which comprises a great dealmore material than is required for the single-articles to be shaped into thefinished form. The ingot 30 is cast preferably under the. same conditions and dimensions as has. been. described, that is the width of the ingot. is approximately twice. its thickness- This ingot 3il is.plaoed.in..a-die 32 in a die receptacle. or die. member 3i! of an ingot molding machine or die. press 33,.Fig- 6. This die 32 may have any desired" configuration such.

as for instance. shown in-.Eig. 5 in which. there are. seven. cavities 34. in. which. the. ingots. are formed by extrusion. in. thecasing 35. which is madeof. ironor steel. or any other. suitable. material. Die. 32 itself is preferably made. of hardened high quality. steel. The casing 35. also. comprises a. lower member 36 which is provided. with the same number of openings. 31 corresponding to the number of. mold. cavities. 34. A. plunger 38. is provided with a plate portion. 39 on which a plurality of ejectingrods 4i! are. secured. or rest. These ejecting rods. 40 are each provided with an upper head portion. 4| extending, into the The die. 32. is contained mold cavities 34. Fig. 4 illustrates an ingot 30 which is ready and in position in the receptacle 3| to be pressed into the cavities 34 down to the upper surfaces of the head portions 4| of the rods 40. A pressing head member 25 which may be operated in any suitable manner, such as by mechanical or hydraulic power or even by the use of steam is rapidly forced into the receptacle 3| and thus presses or extrudes the ingot 30 into the cavities 34 to form the individual ingots. As shown in Fig. 6, the head member 26 is secured in a slide member 48 which is reciprocated in" the machine frame 42 by means of a spirally threaded rod 43 meshing with corresponding grooves in the frame 42. A friction wheel 44, having preferably a hard leather peripheral surface, cooperates with one or the other friction disc 45- mounted to rotate on and with the shaft 43 driven by any suitable means from a source of power to the gear 41. The discs 45 are axially shiftable so that one or other disc will contact and. rotate. the wheel 44. in one or the other direction. After they extrusion step, that is after the. ingot 30. has been forced and extruded into the. die cavities 34, plunger 26 moves upwardly and at the same time plunger rod 38 together with plate 39 and rods 46 is moved upwardly to force. the somewhat cooled and. shrunk ingots out of the die cavities; each such ingot is of the desired configuration and weight of metal.

material and is thereafter pressed individually into the finished article.

Fig. 6 shows the ingots 49 after they have been forced out of the die. 32; they may be integrally connected by a more or less thin flash forming a kind. of. connecting plate 53. and can be easily knocked apart and. thus. separated. The slide member 48 is connected by suitable rods 5| witha cross yoke 52 to which is secured a central push rod 53 contacting the rod or plunger 38. Thus, after the extrusion step, with raising of the head member 26 also plate 39 to-- gether withejecting rods40 are raised. to, ejectthe ingots 49 from the cavities 34.

The operation. of the extrusion machine is.

believed to be obvious but it may be mentioned that upon. an extrusion operation ofv the machine with an ingotof metal in and on the die 32, the

head member 26 increases its downward speed.

as the wheel 44- approaches the. peripheral of the driving disc 45.

Referring to Fig. 7, it is a further feature, of

the invention. that the ejecting rods 40 may be.

interchanged for rods 54 which may have any desired. length in order to regulate the desired length of ingots whichare. to be extruded. Also an. auxiliary plate. or disc 55. may be. employed. having a certain thickness. which may be interchanged with other plates of certain specific thickness. Both the plate.55 and the rods 54 may be. interchanged simultaneously to secure the exact length. of. ingots, or the plates 55 alone. or

the. rods 54 may be interchanged. for this pur--- pose.

It should also. be. understood that ingot 30,.

zontal. width or diameter, if a cylindrical blank.

is concerned the axis of which is about vertical when placed in die 32, whereby particularly dense smaller ingots are obtained by extrusion. However, this feature of the inventionofsubdividing.v

a larger ingot into a predetermined number of smaller ones can be successfully applied to a larger ingot of any other desired shape and proportions.

It should also be understood that the smaller ingots when separated by knocking off the connecting flash may be subjected to one or more subsequent shaping operations preferablyin a cold or hot press or by drop forging, and the shaped body so obtained either be of the final shape ready for use or of an intermediary shape which facilitates further shaping or machining. In the first case a finished article, and in the latter case a semi-finished article is obtained.

It is of course obvious that this invention is not limited to the exact features described and illustrated but the various details are susceptible of variations within the scope of the appended claims. As to the extrusion step in connection with the various methods disclosed, it is understood that this step is used when a larger ingot is to be subdivided by pressing at proper heat into a number of smaller ingots of required shape and size. If thelarger cast ingot is dimensioned in the way described above more in detail and therefore homogeneous and compact, the smaller ingots obtained therefrom will substantially retain this structure and even in most of the cases be more densified. By heating the larger initial ingot to proper temperature at which it can be easily and almost instantaneously pressed into the required shape, the cast and initially larger ingot is annealed and stresses in its crystalline structure are removed; during pressing the tem-' perature of the material is somewhat lowered and the pressing action secures and maintains the compact crystalline structure of the material. The mold or die is heated by the subsequent moldings in regular operation to a degree of temperature which eventually remains almost constant whereby a desired rate of cooling of the smaller ingots is secured, and rapid cooling resulting in quenching can definitely be avoided. Thereby a desired crystalline structure of the smaller ingots is retained or obtained. Also during cooling, the smaller ingots shrink slightly but sufiiciently to permit their easy and fast removal from the mold cavities by the ejecting rods.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device for subdividing by pressing, particularly extruding, a larger metallic ingot into a plurality of smaller ones, substantially comprising a die provided with a first larger cavity, and a plurality of second cavities of smaller individual cross sections than that of and in open communication with the former, said first cavity opening into a front of the die and said second cavities opening into an opposite front of the die, the total of the individual sizes of said second cavities exceeding the size of an ingot to be inserted into said first cavity, and ejecting members arranged to individually enter each of said second cavities from said opposite front of the die, so that by forcing a pressing member into said first cavity an ingot placed therein and covering openings of said second cavities can be pressed into the latter and thereby subdivided and the smaller ingots thus obtained can be ejected by forcing said ejector members into said second cavities.

2. A device for subdividing by pressing, particularly extruding. a larger metallic ingot into a plurality of smaller ones of required size, substantially comprising a die provided with a first larger cavity and a plurality of second cavities in open communication with the former, the

cross sections of said second cavities substantially corresponding to those required of the smaller ingots and their axial lengths being such that the total of the individual sizes of said secondcavities exceeds the size of an ingot to be placed into into said first cavity an ingot placed therein: and

covering openings of said second cavities can be pressed into the latter and thereby subdivided into smaller ingots of required size, and the latter be ejected by forcing said ejector members' into said second cavities.

3. A device for subdividing by pressing, particularly extruding, a larger metallic ingot into a plurality of smaller ones of required size, substantially comprising a die provided with a first larger cavity and a plurality of second cavities in open communication with the former, said first cavity opening into a front of the die and said size of an ingot to be placed in said first cavity, ejecting members individually associated with each of said second cavities and arranged to enter them from said opposite front of the die, the

entering ends of said members shaped so as to close the associated cavity, and means for adjusting said members in a predetermined rest position within said second cavities and forcing said members further into said cavities, so that by forcing a pressing member into said first cavity an ingot of predetermined size placed therein can be pressed into said second cavities and thereby subdivided into smaller ingots of a size predetermined by the sizes of said smaller cavities and the rest position of said members, and the smaller ingots thus formed be ejected by forcing said members further into the associated cavities.

4. In combination with a power press, such as an extrusion press for subdividing a larger ingot into a plurality of smaller ones, a die having opposite fronts, a first and larger cavity in said die opening in one of said fronts for receiving an ingot and pressing head, a plurality of second cavities of considerably smaller individual cross sections than that of said first cavity, said second cavities opening at one end into said first cavity and at their other end into the second of said fronts, rod-like members slidably arranged in each of said cavities and projecting outside said second front, and movable means as exemplified by a plunger arranged outside said second front for adjusting a rest position of said members during pressing and for forcing said members into said cavities for ejecting a pressed work.

5. In combination with a power press, such as an extrusion press for subdividing a larger ingot into a plurality of smaller ones, a die having opposite fronts, a first and larger cavity in said die opening into one of said fronts for receiving an ingot and pressing head, a plurality of second cavities in said die of considerably smaller individual cross sections than that of said first cavity, said second cavities opening at one end into said first cavity and at the other end in the secnd of said fronts, a block arranged at said sec-- ond front and provided with bores aligned with said second cavities, rod-like members slidably arranged within and projecting outside said bores, and movable means as exemplified by a, plunger arranged to cooperate with the projecting ends of said members for adjusting the latter in predetermined rest position during pressing and for forcing said members into said cavities for ejecting a pressed work.

6. In combination with a power press, such as an extrusion press for subdividing a larger ingot into a. plurality of smaller ones, a die having opposite fronts, a first and larger cavity in said die opening in one of said fronts for receiving a pressing head and an ingot the height of which approximates half of its largest lateral dimension, a plurality of second, cavities in said die of considerably smaller individual cross sections than that of said first cavity, said second cavities opening at one end into said first cavity and at theother end in the second of said fronts, said second cavities arranged substantially parallel to the direction of pressing, rod-like slidable members individually associated with each of said second cavities and having ends shaped to form a bottom of the associated cavity, said members.

projecting outside said second front, and movable exchangeable means as exemplified by a plate arranged to cooperate with the projecting ends of said members for holding the latter in,

predetermined position during pressing and forcing them further into said second cavities for ejecting a pressed work.

'7. A device for subdividing by pressing, particularly extruding, a large metallic ingot into.

a pluralit of smaller ones, substantially comprising a die provided with a first larger cavity and a plurality of second cavities of smaller individual cross sections than that of and in open. communication with the former, said first cavity opening into a front of the die and said second cavities opening into an opposite front of the die,

said opposite front of the die, so that by forcing,

a pressing member into said first cavity an ingot placed therein and covering openings of said second cavities can be pressed into the latter and thereby subdivided and the smaller ingots thus obtained can be ejected by forcing said ejector members into said second cavities.

8. A device for subdividing by pressing, particularly extruding, a larger metallic ingot into a plurality of smaller ones, substantially comprising a die provided with a first larger cavity and a plurality of second cavities of smaller individual cross sections than that of and in open communication with the former, said first cavity opening into a front of the die and said second cavities opening into an opposite front of the die, said second cavities arranged substantially parallel to the direction of pressing and the total of their individual sizes exceeding the size of an ingot to be inserted into said first cavity, and ejecting members arranged to individually enter each of said second cavities from said opposite front of the die, so that by forcing a pressing member into said first cavity an ingot placed therein and.

covering openings of said second cavities can be pressed into the latter and thereby subdivided and the smaller ingots thus obtained can be ejected by forcing said ejector members into said second cavities.

JAN KAFOWI. 

